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Vermakk
'''Vermakk the Oblivion-Touched '''was an ancient Black Dragon and leader of the Starlight Talon. He was a major antagonist who uprooted the status-quo over the majority of Blackfang. He was killed by Rohr Thunderbeard. Appearance Vermakk was much larger than even an average ancient dragon. The size of his body was two times that of Vislak, the second largest dragon of the Talon, who himself was much larger than other ancient dragons. He had the standard appearance of an ancient black dragon, except for a large horn protruding from his skull directly above his nostrils, and large clusters of spikes sticking out from all over his body. His left horn was broken off near the base. His wingspan was roughly 150 feet, a testament to his truly colossal size. History Early Life Vermakk's early life is largely unknown. He was an especially large dragon, his size almost unprecedented, and he was called the Oblivion-Touched after he seemingly rose from the dead after his death, at the hands of an unknown enemy. He at some point discovered the Jade Stardisc and attempted to drain its power, but the ritual failed as it was interrupted by Arvannes Echo. He was transported into the astral plane as the expelled energy of the failed ritual blasted open a hole in reality, affixing the Stardisc to Vermakk's chest and making him dependent on it. He was trapped there for most of his life, eventually growing to become an ancient dragon, his size increasing to nearly three times that of the other especially large ancient dragons of the Starlight Talon. He built up an enormous palace of debris in the Astral Plane, enslaving sever Githyanki war parties. At some point he used the Stardisc to contact Jester Fielfid, who made a pact with the dragon and helped put together the Starlight Talon. The Awakening The Starlight Talon, converging on Venura, attacked the city before collectively using their energy breath to open a portal to Vermakk's palace on the Astral Plane. Vermakk burst free from the portal, aiding the Talon in destroying Venura's resistance. The Tarnished Order attempted to stop them, but were overwhelmed. He sent his four underlings to different parts of the world, nesting in Venura's Palace of White Glass. He essentially became the city's new ruler, destroying all resistance and ruling with unprecedented cruelty. Vermakk often killed those he enslaved seemingly without purpose, crushing them or tearing them apart. Accompanied by Cobah, Vermakk often left his home to track down and kill other dragons, chromatic and metallic alike. He devastated the League of Dragons before they could mobilize their forces and retaliate, scattering their surviving members. Vermakk killed Viscount Ildya, tearing off the smaller dragon's head and leaving his corpse to rot in the deserts near Venura. He also killed the hybrid dragon Palokran and the majority of Giarleth's former clan. Return to Venura When the Tarnished Order returned to Venura after the talon's original attack, Vermakk, furious with their prior actions, fought and quickly overwhelmed the party, until they used the Siege of Mount Celestia to deal enormous damage to the Stardisc in Vermakk's chest. This crippled the dragon's power, and the Tarnished Order were collectively able to kill the ancient dragon. He collapsed, dead, in the center of the palace, his skeleton now kept as a marker of triumph over the Talon's power. He was killed by Rohr Thunderbeard, who used Brain Hemorrhage to shatter Vermakk's elbow, bringing the dragon to the ground, then proceeding to break off half of Vermakk's remaining horn and stab it directly into his right eye. Relationships The Starlight Talon Cobah Vermakk saw Cobah as an incredibly effective, unwaveringly loyal ally. He appreciated Cobah's fighting ability the most out of any of the talon, though he often spoke down to Cobah and resented the dragon due to his wary respect of the smaller races. Vermakk flew into a complete frenzy at Cobah's death, marking the only remaining member, aside from himself, of the Starlight Talon's death. After this, Vermakk confronted the Tarnished Order, unable to back down after the fury of losing all his underlings. Griffhath Vermakk saw Griffhath as overly reckless and prideful, but he respected the blue dragon's hatred of the smaller races and desire to see them suffer. Griffhath's loyalty was wavering, lost entirely after Vesslak's death, which frustrated Vermakk, and the blue dragon's refusal to cooperate eventually led to his death at the hands of the Tarnished Order. Vermakk considered Griffhath's death to be the fate he deserved, showing remorse only for the loss of his fighting power. Vesslak Vermakk and Vesslak were on remarkably good terms for chromatic dragons. They agreed on many topics and shared each other's opinions on the smaller folk. Vermakk considered Vesslak as something approaching a friend, and he served as Vermakk's lieutenant in the Starlight Talon. Vesslak's death visibly upset Vermakk, and he flew into a rage, ripping apart Rhymhurst and New Toseth to get back at the party. Vieslak's death affected Vermakk's psyche, and he became much more reckless and wrathful with the death of his only real friend. Wraffkir Vermakk saw Wraffkir as a greedy fool. The two did not get along well, and Wraffkir often argued with Vermakk over the latter's orders. However, Verrmakk valued Wraffkir's strength, and was outraged when he discovered that Wraffkir had been killed by the Tarnished Order, swearing revenge for his fallen ally. The Tarnished Order At first, Vermakk saw the Order as thorns in his side. He cared nothing for them, even denying the other members of the Talon the chance to kill them in favor of enacting their plan for domination. After they killed Wraffkir, they attracted his ire, and he ordered the other members of the Talon to kill them on sight. After Vislak's death, Vermakk's main focus fell on the Order. He destroyed Rhymhurst and New Toseth as a means of revenge, leaving survivors to convey messages of despair to the Order when they returned. When Griffhath was killed, Vermakk's rage boiled over, and he actively sought out the Order to put a stop to their meddling. While he was gone, the order suck into Venura and killed Cobah, after which Vermakk went into a frenzy, slaughtering everyone in sight until the party confronted him. Jester Fielfid Vermakk made a deal with Jester only in order to get what he wanted. He considered the human as an insect, though a smart one, but he used Jester as a pawn and killed him as soon as his use was up. Details * Vermakk is inspired partly by Thordak the Cinder King, an ancient red dragon and antagonist on the Dungeons and Dragons livestream series Critical Role. Thordak was also much larger than an average ancient dragon, and he led the Chroma Conclave, a group of chromatic dragons that had united under him. * Vermakk was designed collectively by four people, considered a joke "super-antagonist" that would likely never be used in a campaign.